This invention relates to crowbars or pry bars, and, in particular, to a crowbar which can be used to more easily separate two pieces of wood without marring the wood.
Crowbars and pry bars have long been used to separate pieces of wood or other items which are connected (i.e., nailed) together. Often during construction, for example, of a house or other building, it is necessary to separate two cross-bars which have been connected together. When a traditional crowbar is used, the head or claw of the crowbar is forced between the two pieces of wood, and the top piece of wood is pried off the bottom piece of wood. While this works to separate the two pieces of wood, the act of forcing the claw between the two pieces of wood can mar or splinter one or both pieces of wood, making either or both pieces of wood unusable. As can be appreciated, this results is waste.
Crowbars have been designed to help tear up floors. For example, Waddell, Pat. No. 977,986 discloses a crowbar having arms extending out from opposite sides of the crowbar""s claw which act as a fulcrum to provide for extra stabilization of the crowbar during use. The bottom of the arms are level with the bottom of the claw. Hence, the claw will be difficult to properly position to separate two cross-beams. Further, the position of the arms changes the direction of force which is applied to the claw (and hence to the boards being separated) making it difficult to pry apart cross-beams, unless the claw is forced between the two cross-beams. Such use of the crowbar, as noted above, can lead to marring and splintering of the beams being separated.
Briefly stated, a crowbar of the present invention includes a shaft, a curved neck at one end of the shaft, a straight section extending from the end of the curved neck, and a pivot arm positioned substantially at the junction between the curved neck and the straight section. The pivot arm is positioned above the straight section and preferably forms an angle of about 90xc2x0 with said straight section. Additionally, the pivot arm is relatively short, having a length of less than 4xe2x80x3. Preferably, the pivot arm has a length of about 2xe2x80x3 to about 4xe2x80x3. Additionally, although the crowbar could be supplied with a single pivot arm, it is preferably supplied with two pivot arms extending in opposite directions from each other.